Israeli officials pan UN chief’s remarks on Gaza, Lebanon at General Assembly
Guterres accuses Israel of ‘collective punishment’ in Gaza, warns Lebanon on ‘brink’; Israel’s UN envoy blasts UNGA ‘hypocrisy’ for only responding when Gaza mentioned
UN Secretary-General António Guterres drew ire from Israeli officials on Tuesday after he accused the Jewish state of “collective punishment” of the Palestinians in Gaza, and warned of similar destruction in Lebanon during his opening speech at the UN General Assembly.
At the start of the annual event at UN headquarters in New York, Guterres said that “nothing can justify the abhorrent acts of terror committed by Hamas on October 7 or the taking of hostages, both of which I have repeatedly condemned.”
“And nothing can justify the collective punishment of the Palestinian people,” he continued, this time to applause.
Guterres said that the “speed and scale of the destruction and killing in Gaza are unlike anything in my years as secretary-general.” He also noted that over 200 UN staff have been killed in the war.
He stressed that the UN still provides services in Gaza, and said to the assembled officials: “I know you join me in paying a special tribute to UNRWA,” referring to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees.
Israel has accused UNRWA employees of participating in the October 7 Hamas-led massacre in southern Israel – during which 1,200 were killed and 251 taken hostage.
Israel’s military response to destroy Hamas in Gaza and free the hostages has stretched for 11 months, with recent ceasefire talks failing to reach a breakthrough, while violent clashes with Hezbollah intensified over the few days as Israel began a sustained offensive against Hezbollah’s missile capabilities.
Guterres said that the international community “must mobilize for an immediate ceasefire, the immediate and unconditional release of hostages, and the beginning of an irreversible process toward a two-state solution.”
“What is the alternative? How can the world accept one state in which a large number of Palestinians will be included without any freedom, any rights, or dignity?” he asked.
Guterres also expressed alarm over the recent escalation between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon. Since October 8, Hezbollah-led forces have attacked Israeli communities and military posts along the border on a near-daily basis in solidarity with Hamas.
“Gaza is a nonstop nightmare that threatens to take the entire region with it,” he said. “Look no further than Lebanon. We should all be alarmed by the escalation. Lebanon is at the brink. The people of Lebanon, the people of Israel, and the people of the world cannot afford Lebanon to become another Gaza.”
In response, UN Ambassador Danny Danon blasted the assembly’s reaction to Guterres’s speech. “When the UN secretary-general speaks about the release of our hostages, the UN assembly remains silent,” he said, “but when he speaks about the suffering in Gaza he receives wild applause. This is the opening signal for the annual show of hypocrisy.”
Mr. Secretary General @antonioguterres, the nightmare you speak of, is in fact reality. The reality is that Hezbollah has taken Lebanon hostage, and the UN is neither acknowledging their actions, nor fulfilling its fundamental obligation – preventing Hezbollah attacks and… https://t.co/wbQ8XrXK3W
— יואב גלנט – Yoav Gallant (@yoavgallant) September 24, 2024
Criticizing Guterres’s position on Lebanon, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said in a statement on X that Hezbollah has taken “Lebanon hostage.”
“The UN is neither acknowledging their actions nor fulfilling its fundamental obligation – preventing Hezbollah attacks and demanding the implementation of resolution 1701,” he said of the resolution that ended the 2006 Second Lebanon War and requires Hezbollah to disarm and withdraw north of the Litani River.
“UN Secretary-General Guterres, if Hezbollah continues to act against Israel, Lebanon will look exactly like Gaza,” Energy Minister Eli Cohen said in a post on X. “The real nightmare, which you have already forgotten, occurred on October 7, when thousands of Hamas terrorists invaded Israel and murdered women and children and kidnapped civilians.”
Cohen noted that Hezbollah had decided to join Hamas’s attack on Israel, and accused Guterres of encouraging terrorism. He vowed that Israel would continue to operate against both groups to prevent another massacre.
The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry says more than 41,000 people in the Strip have been killed or are presumed dead in the fighting so far, though the toll cannot be verified and does not differentiate between civilians and fighters. Israel says it has killed some 17,000 combatants in battle and another 1,000 terrorists inside Israel on October 7.
Israel has said it seeks to minimize civilian fatalities and stresses that Hamas uses Gaza’s civilians as human shields, fighting from civilian areas including homes, hospitals, schools, and mosques.
Israel’s toll in the ground offensive against Hamas in Gaza and in military operations along the border with the Strip stands at 348.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
